signs and symbols 2

The great use of language for a chinese takeaway

Proud Songsters change little by little

We have slowly or rather too quickly as Mike told me today added furniture to our abode to make it a little bit more cosy.
Emily reminded me when we spoke today Mum you do have a home here and stop ! its only a week ...... she's right but I know that wherever I have travelled the world I have a habit of wanting to turn anything into something homely, flowers from the hedgerow, scarves as throws to hide the furniture and propping up postcards as pictures , memories of being in a sandpit as a child of six and dividing it up into rooms and then building furniture must indicate something significant ! Saying this I am reminded just how wonderful children can be, as we left Gatwick Emily handed us a card and told us not to open it then, we read it on the aeroplane tears streaming down our cheeks together, $40.00 inside to buy flowers for our new home as a home is not home with out them. I share with you her thoughts which I am sure she will not mind, that what we are doing is the wrong way round and we should not be the ones flying the nest but her ! But as she said "its time for this little blackbird to grow a few more feathers in her wings and to stand on her shaky legs" I know she will and has with out realising it.

Some may know the story of how we come to be here but we owe it to Emily, we were this time last year in Paris celebrating Lyndsay Birds special birthday and whilst staying in the Hotel Latin we watched a rather well behaved set of students reporting for duty , we chatted and discovered they were from Savannah School of Art and Design and we have to say a great credit to their institution, I had a long time ago been approached by them and never followed it up, it stayed in my mind as unfinished business. Emily searching for jobs clicked on a link mistakenly and found the post I have and emailed it to me, with the message " Mum this is your job" and the rest is history..............
She included this poem with the comment one year on, the dream that was is reality

Proud Songsters by Thomas Hardy
The thrushes sing as the sun is going,
And the finches whistle in ones and pairs,
And as it gets dark loud nightingales
In bushes
Pipe, as they can when April wears,
As if all the time were theirs.

These are the brand new birds of twelve months growing
which a year ago, or less than twain
no finches were, nor nightingales,
nor thrushes,
But only particles of grain,
And earth, and air, and rain

Are we supposed to be vocal about our admiration for our children I hope so...................

home as we know it now

The day I left the University of Portsmouth my Head of School Jenny Walden got everyone to make me an origami bird to wish me good luck, well they all flew here in a big brown envelope and installed themselves on my floorboards what a magical thing to think of, they have been decorating the apartment for a good few days .....

nest building

This week has been a roller coaster of events, what with orientation of the best sort in preparation for teaching on Monday (as I entered in to sending emails on blackboard my instructor advised me
"you are not writing a novel Jacqui its an email ! " ) , meeting my new colleagues who have been exceptionally kind with their time and advice on how to make sure I do not get too nervous as I stand in front of my first class on Monday afternoon, plus ! building a nest......
We had the beds delivered and the man noticing the masking tape on the floor to see if the sofa and chairs we had spied would fit, chuckled as he left commenting " I sure hope you find the person who shot your furniture!"
Well we didn't, but we have a home which has after a week grown day by day with oddities and bizarre placing of internet and printers but we feel we are up and running. We have been out celebrating birthdays of a colleague's partner and actually managing to stay up and listen to him sing in a bar at past midnight (for those of you that know Mike he is renowned for sleeping at the table after ten o'clock ! ). He seems to have fallen in to being in Savannah with remarkable ease.

Our first visitor arrived from Washington the best naughty little sister Lyndsay Bird who happened to be this side of the water
and feels its nothing to hop on a plane with chocolates, champagne and a house warming gift , she really does put us all to shame. How I wish we were all so good and generous with our time. She is utterly amazing. It was so wonderful to share a couple of days with her and Mike tried out his new found skill of the tourist guide by taking her on a trolley bus tour around the historic district . She felt the same sort of fuzzy good feeling we had when we came here in November and loved the grid layout of the squares and the ability to walk easily around with out feeling its a mad bad city.
For those who are not acquainted with the city Savannah is :
"Located in the heart of Coastal Georgia's Low country, a city of rare natural beauty—of azaleas in bloom and stately oaks draped with Spanish moss. These landscapes have been lovingly enhanced by two centuries of manmade splendor, from her distinctive park-like squares and cobblestone streets to the magnificent architecture of her storied antebellum homes and churches." It is unbelievably beautiful.

five days on

We have been here for five days and it feels a life time, I stood in the local supermarket the third day here and went in to melt down with too much choice, tearfully I suddenly hankered after the local Co-op in Elm Grove Southsea where I knew where everything was and not much to choose from. We have somewhere to live a pretty condominium, unfurnished and a mile from where I work, I think a bicycle is going to be bought next week to get me fit and avoid driving! Our small shipment of clothes, books and things to remind us of home is hopefully somewhere in Savannah, we are madly visiting thrift stores to find sofas to sit on and lamps to light the nights. One good thing is I have a new bed ! Mike is the best person to make sure the mattress is a good one , Americans love big beds.
This morning we were stopped at breakfast and asked if we may might be Europeans as the man could not help noticing how we were eating in a european manner, we were also very quiet, we assumed its because we used a knife and do not hollar through a door instead of opening it !
Yesterday we went to the Tybee Island which is about 15 miles away from the city centre. My new boss Allan Drummond and his wife Gaye kindly revealed this beautiful location the evening before , it is so calm and the beach was empty, beautifully peaceful at six o'clock in the evening except for the extraordinary birds I have yet to identify.
I have decided that there are so many fabulous signs and symbols we have to share them so watch this space for the wierd and wonderful messages that are all around the city.
Tomorrow I start the process of becoming a Professor ...............

St Patricks day memories

Arrived for St Patrick's Day

We arrived in time for the third largest St Patrick's Day parade in the USA. Everything was green even the dogs and the fountains.
We were overwhelmed somewhat by just how long the whole parade was, it lasted four hours an endless stream of everyone being proud either to be Irish, have a connection to the green isle or advertise being green on a float. A wonderfully funny day, good guiness and very good behaviour !